Russia threatened to reinforce its military means, in particular nuclear, in the Baltic region if Finland or Sweden joined the military alliance led by the United States.
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“It is time to find solutions.” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday April 20 that Finland was ready to consider NATO membership. “Unity is the best guarantee of security”, she added as the Finnish Parliament began to debate the possibility. Long divided on the issue, the 200 members of the hemicycle seem mostly in favor of membership, according to media scores, which found only 12 oppositions.
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Without expressing any formal recommendation, a “white paper”, presented last week by the government to parliamentarians, emphasizes that only membership of NATO makes it possible to benefit from the “umbrella” of its article 5 of collective defence.
Even if it broke with its strict neutrality at the end of the Cold War and joined the European Union in 1995, Finland is today only a NATO partner. Joining the 30 members of the alliance would provide a deterrent “significantly larger” against a Russian attack, according to the white paper.
“It is clear that Russia’s actions have brought us a great deal closer to a military alignment”because Moscow “became ruthless, unpredictable and aggressive””judged Antti Lindtman, parliamentarian of the ruling Social Democratic Party, during the debate, while his movement is, historically, reluctant to integrate NATO.
Moscow has threatened to strengthen its military assets, including nuclear, in the Baltic region if Finland or Sweden join the military alliance led by the United States. Finland has 1,300 kilometers of borders with Russia.